Contract signed for Koeberg steam generators
Areva says work will begin immediately on six new steam generators for the Koeberg nuclear power plant after signing a contract with South African utility Eskom. Meanwhile, Westinghouse is continuing legal proceedings over Eskom's decision to award the job to Areva.
The contract signed by Areva is worth ZAR 4.3 billion ($374 million) and will see Areva design, manufacture and install the replacement steam generators at Koeberg's two pressurized water reactors. The group will also provide associated engineering services.
The work to design and manufacture the steam generators will take place in France at Areva's Creusot Forge and Chalon/St-Marcel sites. Areva says its teams will begin work on the project immediately, with a view to installation of the components in 2018. Local benefits in South Africa will be maximized by involving domestic industrial partners in the deployment of the project, the company promises.
Areva CEO Luc Oursel expressed his company's pride at being selected by Eskom to carry out the work, pointing to a partnership between the companies dating back 40 years to the construction of the Koeberg plant.
Court order
Meanwhile, the South African high court has issued an order obliging Eskom to produce documents pertaining to its decision on the steam generator tender to Westinghouse within five days.
Westinghouse contends that Eskom's August 2014 decision to award the tender to Areva was flawed and should be reversed. In an earlier statement, Westinghouse asserted that Eskom was intending to proceed to conclude an agreement with Areva with "undue haste." In a statement, the company said that the production of tender documentation will place it in a "strong position to proceed with its intended course of action to review Eskom's decision."
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
